Reported rapes up at UConn

Updated 1:28 am, Monday, September 28, 2015

Photo: Jessica Hill / AP File Photo

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Attorney Gloria Allred, left center, leaves a news conference with Kylie Angell, center, Erica Daniels, second from right, and Rosemary Richi, right in 2014 in Hartford. The University of Connecticut will pay nearly $1.3 million to settle a federal lawsuit filed by five women who claimed the school responded to their sexual assault complaints with indifference, the two sides announced. less

Attorney Gloria Allred, left center, leaves a news conference with Kylie Angell, center, Erica Daniels, second from right, and Rosemary Richi, right in 2014 in Hartford. The University of Connecticut will pay ... more

University of Connecticut President Susan Herbst said that she was stunned by charges that the university is indifferent to sexual assaults on campus and insisted they have no basis in fact .From left UConn police chief Barbara O'Connor, president Susan Herbst and title IX officer Elizabeth Conklin at a press conference in Storrs, Conn. on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013. less

University of Connecticut President Susan Herbst said that she was stunned by charges that the university is indifferent to sexual assaults on campus and insisted they have no basis in fact .From left UConn ... more

Barbara O'Connor, left, the UConn police chief, and Elizabeth Conklin, UConn's Title IX coordinator, listen to testimony regarding sexual assaults at UConn during a hearing in Hartford in 2013.

Barbara O'Connor, left, the UConn police chief, and Elizabeth Conklin, UConn's Title IX coordinator, listen to testimony regarding sexual assaults at UConn during a hearing in Hartford in 2013.

Photo: Jessica Hill / AP Photo /Jessica Hill

Reported rapes up at UConn

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STORRS — Reported rapes more than doubled in the year the University of Connecticut settled a $1.3 million lawsuit over its handling of sexual assaults cases.

In 2014, there were 43 rapes reported on the Storrs campus, compared to 18 in 2013 and 13 in 2012, according to the university’s Security and Fire Safety Report released Friday.

University officials said the jump is not an increase in incidents, but the result of more sex assaults being reported because of the school’s intensive education effort.

“We are working very hard to educate people on their reporting responsibilities and to give them more methods by which to do so,” said Barbara O’Connor, UConn’s police chief and director of public safety. “Typically, the more of that you do, the more comfortable people will be with reporting and having confidence in the process, particularly in discussing sensitive crimes such as sexual assault.”

O’Connor said the increased training, along with an intense effort to capture and record all known incidents and allegations, is a driving factor behind the increases in the report this year.

More Information

UConn crime report*

Crime category

2013

2014

Rape

18

43

Fondling

7

10

Robbery

1

2

Aggravated assault

2

8

Burglary

33

29

Car theft

14

16

Arson

0

11

Liquor violation arrests

14

56

Liquor violation referrals

483

750

Drug arrests

178

161

Drug violation referrals

125

269

Weapon arrest

6

4

Domestic violence

15

6

Dating violence

8

26

Stalking

6

30

* Storrs campus

Source: UConn Security and Fire Safety Report

Nearly two years ago five students or former students, including one from Trumbull, filed a federal lawsuit against UConn and a Title IX complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, alleging the university was indifferent to reported sexual assaults, thereby violating their equal protection rights.

In July 2014, UConn settled the case for $1.3 million, admitting no wrongdoing but agreeing to create an enhanced employee training program, hire a new dean of victim support services, institute better ways to oversee investigations, create a special victims unit, offer more educational programs for students and develop further training.

Now, some 800 people — including resident assistants, coaches, faculty advisers and on-campus authorities — fall into the category of “campus security authorities,” who are required to report incidents that come to their attention.

UConn Police have also formed a department specifically to collect and analyze crime data.

Of the 43 sexual assaults reported in 2014, UConn police received 17 reports directly from individuals. The rest came to police from campus security authorities.

The 190-page report also found a spike in dating violence, liquor violations and drug violations.

The report also included crime statistics for its branch campuses. The only offense reported in Stamford in 2014 was one burglary.

Required reporting

The UConn Division of Public Safety posted the report on its website and distributed the link electronically as part of its compliance with federal and state law. The report is required annually under the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act and state law.

“Increased sexual assault reporting tells us that more individuals are feeling comfortable coming forward to share their stories,” said Elizabeth Conklin, UConn’s associate vice president in charge of the Office of Diversity and Equity and Title IX coordinator.

“They know where and how to report, and understand that they will receive support following a disclosure of sexual violence,” she said. “This is so important, because it allows the university and the police to respond to these crimes by offering a range of support services to victims and conducting investigations, which helps to protect the entire campus community.”

“It may indicate that the law is working as it was intended,” Willis said. “We anticipated an increase in reported cases when we created a more supportive reporting environment. (Vicitms) needed to know that they could find a responsive, safe and comfortable harbor.”

Willis said reporting is also more likely now that there is an anonymous reporting option to victims of sexual assault or intimate partner violence.